Boot Camp
Before I am misinterpreted, I abhor violence exercised in an indiscriminate way. That is violence on the street, violence against the innocent, violence in the home, violence against children, etc.
But it appears that a young lad was pummeled to death in a Florida boot camp by guards. And now his mom wants "justice." Initially, death was ruled to have resulted from "sickle cell trait", but under pressure the State of Florida dug him up and let a cornoner from New York do a second autopsy. And surprise! He did not die of sickle cell trait. Instead, tape is also unearthed showing guards beating the crap out of him. Why were they beating him? For failure to do their bidding? Certainly throughout the US, such camps have been closed because of random brutality, but was this the case here?
Martin Anderson, 14, was sent to juvenile boot camp because he violated a probation order resulting from him stealing his grandmother's car from a church parking lot. At 14. Not exactly a fun youth to have around then, except if you are a gangsta and wanna-be thug.
The US Department of Justice has determined that recidivism is really no different from "more traditional methods" of punishment, and that any corrective effect in attitude is short lived. The US Bureau of Prisons has shut its program that at one point had 7,000 inmates in 27 states. But Florida kept its program, as I imagine many Southern States did: chain gangs and hard labor are still well received by the public there. Heck, I'd get the Gulag going again for child molesters, drug dealers and crimes of violence.
You see, once the criminal decides that violence is OK, they should then forfeit their rights to protest when violence is used against them. Does stealing a car get you to boot camp? That seems a bit extreme -- but be sure that there is more under the youth record than the car to get his sent there. You would be right in saying I can't be sure ... just as I can't be sure that the man did in fact walk on the Moon. IT could all be a conspiracy. But I doubt it. Here in Cambridge, however, those sentiments might cause the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences to rig the scaffold for my benefit ... violence against the unbeliever!
Tragedy, then. Poor black kid beaten to death by fascist guards. And now his mom wants justice. Where the F*&^ was his mom when junior was out committing crimes? Where was the Dad when his 14 year old son was committing felonies? Where is society going to get compensation (like the parents, of course, are seeking from the State) for the crimes of the tens of thousands of kids like Martin Anderson are committing against it? Its not a race thing, it is a parenting thing. How about a suit against the parents for the costs associated with this whole mess?
But it appears that a young lad was pummeled to death in a Florida boot camp by guards. And now his mom wants "justice." Initially, death was ruled to have resulted from "sickle cell trait", but under pressure the State of Florida dug him up and let a cornoner from New York do a second autopsy. And surprise! He did not die of sickle cell trait. Instead, tape is also unearthed showing guards beating the crap out of him. Why were they beating him? For failure to do their bidding? Certainly throughout the US, such camps have been closed because of random brutality, but was this the case here?
Martin Anderson, 14, was sent to juvenile boot camp because he violated a probation order resulting from him stealing his grandmother's car from a church parking lot. At 14. Not exactly a fun youth to have around then, except if you are a gangsta and wanna-be thug.
The US Department of Justice has determined that recidivism is really no different from "more traditional methods" of punishment, and that any corrective effect in attitude is short lived. The US Bureau of Prisons has shut its program that at one point had 7,000 inmates in 27 states. But Florida kept its program, as I imagine many Southern States did: chain gangs and hard labor are still well received by the public there. Heck, I'd get the Gulag going again for child molesters, drug dealers and crimes of violence.
You see, once the criminal decides that violence is OK, they should then forfeit their rights to protest when violence is used against them. Does stealing a car get you to boot camp? That seems a bit extreme -- but be sure that there is more under the youth record than the car to get his sent there. You would be right in saying I can't be sure ... just as I can't be sure that the man did in fact walk on the Moon. IT could all be a conspiracy. But I doubt it. Here in Cambridge, however, those sentiments might cause the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences to rig the scaffold for my benefit ... violence against the unbeliever!
Tragedy, then. Poor black kid beaten to death by fascist guards. And now his mom wants justice. Where the F*&^ was his mom when junior was out committing crimes? Where was the Dad when his 14 year old son was committing felonies? Where is society going to get compensation (like the parents, of course, are seeking from the State) for the crimes of the tens of thousands of kids like Martin Anderson are committing against it? Its not a race thing, it is a parenting thing. How about a suit against the parents for the costs associated with this whole mess?
posted by Zaphod at Thursday, March 16, 2006
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